Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to computer networking and more particularly relates to selecting a network.
Description of the Related Art
As technology continues to advance, computing devices may perform a wide variety of different tasks in different scenarios. As computing devices decrease in size, they may travel more with their respective users. As computing devices move with their respective users, the computing devices may come in and out of contact with a wide variety of different networks.
In some scenarios, a computing device may automatically connect with certain recognized networks. A computing device may be configured to generally prefer one network over another. In response to a preferred network becoming available, the computing device may switch to the preferred network. The preferences may be set by a user of the computing device.
In some examples, a computing device may switch to a network based on availability of a network. For example, a mobile device may be configured to use a local network when it is available and to use a broadband network when the local network is not available.
In certain examples, network preferences and settings may be set at an operating system level for the computing device. In one example, a mobile device may be configured to prefer a local network when it is available because the local network may be faster than a broadband network. However, the local network may be a public network and the user may unknowingly transmit private information on the public network. Therefore, a user may have to decide between network performance and network security. Because certain networks may be preferred for a wide variety of specific reasons, currently selection technologies may be ineffective in selecting an appropriate network.